My wife is 24 weeks along with our third child. She had preeclampsia with our second child and had to deliver at 34 weeks. Her blood pressure has been as high as 168/110 and usually runs at 140/95 even after her Doctor increased her blood pressure medicine. She is also having extreme headaches and stomach pains. She gained 4 pounds in just 6 days. This all started earlier with this child than it did with the last. Should I be worried? The Doctor doesn't seem too worried, but I remember how bad it got the last time.

Hi there! It sure sounds like your wife might benefit from a second opinion, those pressures sound pretty darned high! Headaches aren't good either. Is she seeing a perinatologist? You can find the names and addresses of peris that specialize in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy at http://www.nasshp.org and regular peris at http://www.smfm.org

If your wife develops a headache that just won't go away, or visual disturbances, she really needs to go to the Emergency Room to make sure that it is not preeclampsia getting worse.

And you're right, if you get preeclampsia very severely or before 34 weeks, it's good sign to watch the next pregnancy very closely, because the strongest risk factor for developing preeclampsia is having had it before. Hang in there, and I wish the very best to you and your wife. Please let us know how she's doing!